1994 Volume 44 Pages 139-142
A 40-year-old female visited our hospital with a chief complaint of rectal bleeding. Digital and barium enema exnamination disclosed the elevated lesion with major axis of about 15 mm in the lower part of the rectum. Colonoscopic examination showed an irregular mucosal pattern with easy bleeding.
Histological study of the biopsy specimens revealed that the lesion was endocrine cell carcinoma and positive for the argyrophil reaction by Grimelius' method. The tumor was removed by surgical operation.
Endocrine cell carcinoma of the rectum is rare. Furthermore it is difficult to differentiate it from sm-invasive differentiated adenocarcinoma and carcinoid tumor by endoscopy. Endocrine cell carcinoma had worse prognosis than these diseases. It is therefore important to make a correct diagnosis by histological examination.
